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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 12, 2008

WEEZER:

WEEZER

(DGC/INTERSCOPE) ***

Weezer's music sounds so effortless, so borderline smug in the way it sucks in the listener, it's easy to wonder when the jig will be up.

Maybe next time.

It's impossible to gauge Rivers Cuomo's sincerity level on tunes such as "Heart Songs" or "The Angel and the One," the lengthy ballad which closes the album. More to the point, it doesn't matter. The melodies flow too smoothly, the music shifts so easily from bouncy pop to power chord rock, it makes more sense to surrender.

Sure it's fluff, but it's really good fluff. So good you could almost forgive 'em for inventing emo.

Download this: "Pork and Beans"

Curtis Ross

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS:

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

(SUB POP) **

These guys' 15 minutes aren't up yet? This eponymous CD features songs from the New Zealand folk-comedy duo's criminally overrated HBO series, and it turns out they're even more mildly amusing out of context.

Whether they're spoofing the Pet Shop Boys with brooding synth-pop ("Inner City Pressure"), parodying Marvin Gaye with socially conscious soul ("Think About It") or sending up David Bowie (with the imaginatively titled "Bowie"), the jokes simply aren't clever enough often enough to distract from the cheesy, ersatz quality of the music.

Rabid fans will enjoy hearing their faves, but one spin should be more than enough for anyone else.

Download this: "Business Time"

Rommie Johnson

SCARLETT JOHANSSON:

ANYWHERE I LAY MY HEAD

(ATCO) ***½

A Hollywood starlet releasing an album of Tom Waits covers.

No wonder the haters have lined up to pan this, the first album by Scarlett Johansson, the luminous beauty whose film career has taken off like a supernova.

I implore you to ignore the negative reviews. There is a reason why The Jesus and Mary Chain picked her to stand on stage with them at the Coachella music festival.

Johansson is hypnotic in a way that transcends her unremarkable voice. The songs linger long enough to draw you into a surprisingly lush landscape of low-fi, electronic bliss. This is a really good album, much better than most would have you believe.

Download this: "Anywhere I Lay My Head"

John W. Allman

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